Introduction
Berlin, the capital of Germany, was divided into two parts after World War II: East Berlin and West Berlin. The division entailed the sowing of clear disparity in the two regions with respect to political, economic, quality, and opportunities for success. In this blog post, we will explore the key aspects that differentiate East and West Berlin and examine the question: which was better?
History of the Division
Germany after the Second World War was split into four zones occupied by the Allied forces of the Second World War at the end of the same year. In East Germany including East Berlin the country was controlled and governed by the Soviet Union while West Germany inclusive of West Berlin was governed by the United States, Britain and France. The division was symbolic of the ideological war that was the Cold War between the superpowers, Soviet and the West.
- Economic Aspects
West Berlin benefited from them through rapid economic growth and the area then became represented by what was popularly known as the “economic miracle’ of Germany after the war. The WW led to enhancement of standard of living and it was able to get a considerable amount of funds from the western countries. East Berlin copied the soviet model of economy, found themselves limited in opportunities, industries owned by the government and inferior standard of living.
- Political Differences
Thanks to Schmidt, West Berlin had equal political rights, free elections, and a free word in the media. It was socio-culturally closely related to Western culture and it became a home to many who were fleeing communism in East Germany. West Berlin can be easily defined as a part of the Free World with more freedom of speech, fewer rights of citizens restricted, and limited roles of secret police- the Stasi.
- Cultural and Social Life
West Berlin was famous for its nights, lively art scene, musicians and intellectuals from all around the line. There they could find various forms of entertainment such as theatres, museums and things like that, and nightlife. While East Berlin, on the other hand, enjoyed a softer kind of artistic repression, a fair degree of social control and enforced censorship.
- The Berlin Wall
The construction of the wall in East Germany in August 1961 took these differences to a different political level. The wall in every possible way physically separated people of East Berlin from the rest of the city, be it relatives, friends or fellow countrymen. Despite its function of keeping East Germans from escaping to the West, the wall had become a huge metaphor of the separation and oppression of people in East Berlin.
Conclusion
Trying to understand that one side of Berlin is better than the other, it is much a matter of subjective opinion of the writer, shaped by one’s values. West Berlin was less oppressive, offered better economic prospects as well as more freedom politically, and boasted of rich culture. East Berlin offered Socialism, though at the expense of fairly limited civil liberties. East and West Berlin was a symbol of the cold war, the barrier was not only a concrete wall separating the two but it symbolized conflict of the soviet and the western block. The conditions of the given times have to be taken into accounts when attempting to determine which part of Berlin was better.